Jim C Bradley
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I am putting this thread here because the thread [h=3]"Can I Get Some Input On Aprons"[/h]ia what caused me to write this one.
There was a mention of a negative trait of leather for an apron. The negative trait was cleaning it. Making things with leather was a hobby of mine for a few years. There is a lot of bug-a-boo about cleaning leather. I would guess that it is stimulated by the cleaning people.
How did I clean my leather coats? Well, I washed them. I was very chicken hearted when I first laundered an expensive semi-dress leather coat. I got braver as I cleaned more objects. I would gently hand wash the object in cold water with a mild detergent, rinse in cold water, and hang up to dry after smoothing out the material. I woould work the material gently once-in-a-while to keep it from stiffening or shrinking. Myrna was braver. She would launder in the washing machine. She would use the most gentle cycle and use less than average amount of a mild laundry detergent and then hang it out to dry. She would "blot" absorb much of the moisture prior to hanging.
Myrna's method worked very well until she forgot and put my $175 leather coat in the dryer. The coat came out in perfect condition and just the right size for an organ grinder's monkey. By the way that $175 coat was purchased when you could buy an equipped Chevrolet for less than $2,000. That was a real expensive monkey coat.
If you want to wash a shop apron, go for it. If you want to wash a $900 leather coat, I would suggest you try some other things first so you can correct your mistakes, if you make any, cheaper. Do "work" your leather a bit as it dries so it does not get stiff. This was written to get you thinking. Your library can probably obtain books for you on Leather Working. I would imagine that many of the books would contain a chapter on cleaning. And, just like woodworking, many techniques are the same and many have improved drastically over time.
Enjoy,
JimB
There was a mention of a negative trait of leather for an apron. The negative trait was cleaning it. Making things with leather was a hobby of mine for a few years. There is a lot of bug-a-boo about cleaning leather. I would guess that it is stimulated by the cleaning people.
How did I clean my leather coats? Well, I washed them. I was very chicken hearted when I first laundered an expensive semi-dress leather coat. I got braver as I cleaned more objects. I would gently hand wash the object in cold water with a mild detergent, rinse in cold water, and hang up to dry after smoothing out the material. I woould work the material gently once-in-a-while to keep it from stiffening or shrinking. Myrna was braver. She would launder in the washing machine. She would use the most gentle cycle and use less than average amount of a mild laundry detergent and then hang it out to dry. She would "blot" absorb much of the moisture prior to hanging.
Myrna's method worked very well until she forgot and put my $175 leather coat in the dryer. The coat came out in perfect condition and just the right size for an organ grinder's monkey. By the way that $175 coat was purchased when you could buy an equipped Chevrolet for less than $2,000. That was a real expensive monkey coat.
If you want to wash a shop apron, go for it. If you want to wash a $900 leather coat, I would suggest you try some other things first so you can correct your mistakes, if you make any, cheaper. Do "work" your leather a bit as it dries so it does not get stiff. This was written to get you thinking. Your library can probably obtain books for you on Leather Working. I would imagine that many of the books would contain a chapter on cleaning. And, just like woodworking, many techniques are the same and many have improved drastically over time.
Enjoy,
JimB